Taking The Next Steps

We serve a big God!

Sometimes our big God asks us to do things that seem impossible for us, but are completely possible with Him.

The Elders realize that bringing on a 2nd pastor is a HUGE step for us…but we also realize our God is bigger and that where and when He leads us to make big decisions, He also provides all that is necessary for us to accomplish it!

Every elder believes this is the right step, and the next step that God wants us to take to help us fulfill the mission He has given us…What is that mission?

Building Lives to Know and Live For Jesus Christ

We want to do this well…we want to hear our God say Well Done Good and Faithful Servants.

Did you hear that adjective…FAITHFUL servants?

Not only must we BE Faithful Servants, we must walk by Faith.

We want to encourage you, exhort you to take steps of faith…when we think of walking by faith our attention ought to be drawn to Hebrews 11…if you have your Bibles, please turn there…If you don’t, the key verses will be on the Screen.

Hebrews 11:1–2 NASB95

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.

Biblical faith is not blind optimism or a manufactured “hope-so” feeling.

Neither is it an intellectual assent to a doctrine.

It is certainly not believing in spite of evidence! That would be superstition

Biblical faith reveals itself in a confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and consequences.

God speaks and we hear His Word. We trust His Word and act on it no matter what the circumstances are or what the consequences may be.

The circumstances may be impossible, and the consequences frightening and unknown; but we obey God’s Word just the same and believe Him to do what is right and what is best.

Three key words describing faith:

Assurance

Carries the idea of a that which is hoped for becomes a reality…if God wants it, it will happen.

Conviction

evidence…the proof…this is the inner condition of the heart that carries no doubt…in other words, if we have the conviction that God will do what He says He will do, then the evidence is seen in what we do next.

In other words, a faith without action is a dead faith…you can’t say you have faith that God will do something and then do nothing..

Witness

gained approval — you see this terminology in verse 2, twice in verse 4, again in verse 5, and then again in verse 39…

in Hebrews 12:1, these people are given the classification of a “great cloud of witnesses”…that doesn’t mean they are hanging over the edge of heaven looking down on us…it means they went before us as a testimony of faith

Faith is very practical. It enables us to do what others say we cannot do…Remember this…

Our Faith Is Never Greater Than The Object In Which It Is Placed!

So we are asking you to place your faith in God to do what we know He will do.

I briefly want to walk through the some of Hebrews 11 to encourage you to consider those who have gone before us and to believe God has something greater in store for us.

Faith Motivates Us to Pass It on to Other Generations (20-22)

Hebrews 11:20–22 NASB95

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.

We pass it on to our families.

You see the successive generations that started here with Isaac...

We pass it on to our community and the world.

Joseph did not allow the ungodliness of Egypt to influence him or break his confidence in God…in fact the opposite is true…He knew that God would one day deliver his people from Egypt and that he belonged in the land of promise…so he made them promise to take his bones with them when they left…and MOSES did it!

His faith impacted a nation!

Remember that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness…2 Peter 1:3-4.

Faith Motivates Us to Persevere in Obedience to God

Hebrews 11:23–28 NASB95

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

To persevere in obedience we must...

Reject worldly allurements

Moses rejected fame & power, fleeting sinful pleasures, financial wealth…he looked away from all that and focused ahead.

We understand bringing on a 2nd pastor means we have to pay for him…that takes all of us committed to walk in faith which means we may have to forgo something we’ve wanted for a while to give a little more to the Lord’s work...

Obey even when it seems illogical

The directives for the Passover seem illogical…who puts blood over a doorpost?

God’s people do when they believe God will do what He says he will do...

Some might be saying right now, it is illogical for us to bring on a 2nd pastor when the numbers aren’t there in either attendance or budget...

Think about it this way…the Bible describes the believer in illogical terms...

We die so we can live

We become poor so we can be rich

We loose our life so we can find it

We live righteously today in light of our future.

Obey regardless of guaranteed success or suspected “failure”.

The writer moves quickly from this point in listing more heroes of faith…they can be placed in two categories...

Those whose faith resulted in successful outcomes...Those whose faith resulted in “failure”

…please note the word failure is in quotes…meaning it wasn’t really failure at all…it would only be considered a failure in the eyes of the world...

Whether this step of faith ends in success or failure is not the issue…the issue is our heart…are we willing to obey God even if the outcome we want or expected doesn’t happen...

Remember Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego…they would not bow down…they believed that God would rescue them but if He chose not to rescue them in their way, they would still obey God…

They concluded that regardless of the outcome God still delivers!

Daniel 3:17–18 NASB95

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Habakkuk 3:17–18 NASB95

Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

Faith Actively Seeks to Increase What God Entrusts To Us (Matthew 25:14-30)

In this parable, a rich man gives his servants talents (money) for them to manage while he is gone on a journey.

Each one was entrusted with an amount equal to their ability and all three did something with those talents.

Matthew 25:16 NASB95

“Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.

Matthew 25:17 NASB95

“In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.

Matthew 25:18 NASB95

“But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

The master returns and settles the accounts with them, and places them into one of two categories: faithful and unfaithful

Matthew 25:20–21 NASB95

“The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

Matthew 25:22–23 NASB95

“Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

Matthew 25:24–25 NASB95

“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

Matthew 25:26 NASB95

“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.

I share all this with you to challenge all of us that God has given us a great opportunity to step out in faith, believing He will provide all that we need to accomplish his will, and has entrusted us with a wonderful and powerful ministry of worship and youth…those are not aspects of our ministry that we simply want to “maintain”…We believe God wants us to put forth efforts that will propel those ministries forward.

The elders trust that you want to be like those first two servants and not the third.

By faith let us believe that God wants us to invest in people and further His kingdom with the addition of a 2nd pastor who will help lead such vital pieces of our mission....

Building Lives to Know and Live for Jesus Christ